Showing posts with label #Budburst. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #Budburst. Show all posts

Monday, May 4, 2020

Monitoring Buds Burst in the Time of Covid-19


Multiple approaches  to getting students observing the timing of leaf out in the time of school closures.


Hanover H.S. Student, Celeste Farrell monitoring Bud Burst at her schoolyard during school closure


From the Northern-most  Field Site, student volunteer based monitoring: 

I am taking data with Celeste's help with the 12 core trees so that we can continue determining the growing season.  She is standing at tree #13 (sugar maple) which is one of the trees that has been in the study the longest and we were practicing social distancing as we marked trees with flags and green twisty ties. I will be uploading data as I collect it.  Only the box elder had puffy buds.  The maples are next!  -Maryann Postans, Hanover High School, New Hampshire


From the Southern-most Field Site teacher led photo sharing approach:


 

Dr. Elisa Margarita, teacher at Brooklyn Technical School in New York,  has gone out for several visits to her class's field site at Fort Greene Park and taken photos of the buds to share remotely with students. She asks them to reply with the status of the buds based on the Harvard Forest protocol. 



Dr. Margarita is continuing to monitor, photograph and share remotely the bud/leaf out status of each of the study trees with students throughout the spring, until all study leaves have emerged. Stay tuned for her full documentation of bud burst on our website-coming soon.



Teacher, Jane Lucia from the Williston Northampton School, took a mixed approach.  

Remote Photos:   I was able to get over to school today and took some pictures. Though it is after the (HF Schoolyard Zoom Spring Workshop session 2 led by Dr. O'Keefe) workshop, These were taken April 17, 2020 on the Williston Northampton School Campus.



The white paper background was so helpful for focusing and seeing the buds. I also recorded the 6 buds for each tree on data sheets. I will make an effort to get out a few more times to capture leaf out as best as possible. I am also sharing this link with my students for observation, though I only took photos of one of the branches on each tree.

See more detailed teacher resources that Jane has shared for other teachers below!

Jane also incorporated a backyard monitoring assignment based on the recommendation of Dr. O'Keefe as seen in the data sheet below.


Special Backyard Protocol created by Harvard Forest Project Ecologist John O'Keefe for students monitoring trees in their neighborhoods:
See below for link to Remote Buds Data Sheet


Dr. John O'Keefe was the lead presenter at our 2nd Spring Workshop for Teachers Zoom Session.  

Here is what teachers shared about how they are adapting to doing Phenology outreach remotely:

Teacher Comments: 

I especially appreciate the updated/modified data sheets for our kids to explore the Phenology of the trees in their own yard or neighborhood! 

I realized today for the first time that the entire leaf must be showing to be considered leaf fully emerged.  I loved the mystery game and the ideas the teachers had Lucia - sketches and observations . I love the forcing the branch and the at home protocol with trees at students home. I might do versions of each over the next few weeks in addition to sending the kids the photos of their tree branches.

The workshop was very motivating and provided me with a wealth of ideas for my students. 

 I am more ready to take photos of branches using the white paper technique- with the tree names and dates on the papers! With this method, it seems more possible that I could share the photos with the students for observation and determination of the start of the growing season for their tree. 

I always learn from what the teachers are doing and sharing. They are so creative. I may not be able to use the information right away but it will be super helpful for the future 

It will take some time to figure out how to approach this with younger students. We certainly hope to give them a sense of what they would be doing if we were in school. 

I was not sure about how to go about this remotely but I think if I stay simple, it will be best as my students are young

 It clarified some ideas I had about students collecting data remotely. 

Clarification of the size and "puffiness" of buds was helpful; Thanks also for the online resources & guides 


Related Resources


PhenoCam Lesson Plans
The PhenoCam Network tracks seasonal change (Phenology) in biomes across North America using hundreds of web-cameras, with a gallery that can be explored and analyzed online.

Coming This Week: 

Spring Workshop Session 4 is scheduled for Wednesday, May 6th 3-4 p.m.  

Three Schoolyard Teachers will share how they are teaching Ecology remotely, including learning activities related to Phenology, Bud Burst, Tree and Animal ID,  Backyard Biodiversity.... 

To join us for this free webinar, Email Pamela at psnow@fas.harvard.edu   


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Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Inspirational Spring Workshop for Teachers 2019



Spring Workshop 2019

Project Ecologist, John O'Keefe teaches tree ID and how to record stages of Budburst using  "forced"  branches.



 Teachers practice identifying trees and the stages of Budburst using help of experienced Mentor teachers, staff and tree field guides.

Buds, Leaves and Global Warming Group explored the stages of
 Budburst outdoors as well. 
 
 Looking more closely at buds, above and below.  Red Maples were one of the only
 species they found that had begun flowering this year.



Harvard Forest Senior Ecologist and Site Manager, Audrey Barker-Plotkin, led both the
Our Changing Forest group and the Woolly Bully group on a field walk to Hemlock
Hollow and the Hemlock Eddy Flux Tower.


 
Teachers saw both high tech and low
 tech ways that professional Ecologists
 study the forest. The laundry basket
 above was used to catch leaf litter
 which was later analyzed in the lab.
 Audrey taught teachers about what scientists at Harvard Forest have learned about changes in the forest up to 10,000 years ago using Paleo-Ecology to look at pollen grains in wetlands like the vernal pool pictured above.
 

Teacher comments about Project Breakout Sessions and Field Walks:

  • John was so informative and the veteran teachers had some great suggestions
  • I can teach about the Hemlock’s role in carbon storage.
  • Great to be able to see specimens and ask questions about the development of the buds
  • Helpful to see woolly bully to help with my identification. Helpful to walk with other teachers and discuss how they are using these projects to teach
  • Awesome part of the day! There is nothing better than getting out and seeing and hearing things directly--thank you!
  • As a newcomer, I felt like I was able to get some understanding of how to lead students in counting buds, and which buds. I also have the context of the work to share with students.
  • Seeing all the nuances on real trees allowed for lots of questions & clarification
  • It is wonderful to hear John talk about his project and how things have changed over the last year.
  • I really liked listening to the other teachers share their stories
  • I learn so much every time I listen to John present - I filled up 2 pages with notes and ideas to bring with me. It's always enlightening to look at branches that are being forced, challenging my ability to identify and notice details
  • John gives a renewed energy for the spring with his experience and expertise
  • The walk with Audrey was fabulous. It was so good to have a chance to listen to Audrey share her knowledge and have a chance to ask questions. 

Lightning Round Slides  

 What Schoolyard Ecology looks like 
1 Slide in 1 Minute per project at each site


Teacher Recognition


 

5 Year Award:  Melanie McCracken
 10 Year Awards:  

 JoAnn Mossman, Katherine Bennett, Louise Levy, Nora Murphy, Debra Kimball


Teacher Presentations


 

Teachers,Mary Reed and Joe Scanio, presented the ways in which 
they integrate project themes into classroom curriculum.

Teacher Comments on Presentations:  

  • I loved hearing what other teachers are doing--I can't wait to re work some curriculum for next year.
  • Mary's scaffolding set off "bing!" moments for ways I can make the study come alive for my students.
  • I enjoyed learning more about graphing possibilities with the data. Maybe we could make a location map for our trees with pop outs for each. Mary’s presentation was very helpful in how you can organize and implement the Buds program with Elementary students.
  • The GIS presentation makes me think about getting the coding teacher to help out with the data we collect and have students to create maps related to this project
  • Graphing literacy is becoming more and more important on the MCAS, good to have this information
  • great to hear about how Mr. Scanio is working with data visualization
  • Joe's work was something I might be able to scale down for middle school and Mary's was something I might try to scale up.
  • Mary did an amazing presentation! I really appreciate seeing how this project's data is being used to expand understanding at the elementary level. I loved the chance to see all the ways to use this project in student's learning.a of putting together a book for the students to see their work over the course of a school year.

 New this Year:  Student Work/ Poster Session 


Teacher Emilie Cushing  Shared an activity that students completed related to  GIS Land
Cover Change Maps. These maps were provided by Harvard Forest as a tool for connecting
the Our Changing Forest project to larger trends in landscape change over time.



 Teacher, JoAnn Mossman from Overlook Middle School in Ashburnham, shared student created graphs of Buds, Leaves and Global Warming data.  Most students created hand graphs they decorated in ways that made the graphs visually appealing.  One student created a computer generated graph showing all trees over 8 years of the study. The student used a graphing tool from the HF online database to create that graph.


 St. Mary's Parish School Teacher, Mary Reed, above left and below, shared samples of tree booklets created by her 4th grade students.  Mary was able to show how she approached a series of lessons that contributed to that project in a PowerPoint presentation followed by the informal student work session.  
Belchertown, H.S. Teacher, Louise Levy shared binders that serve as organizational tools for students to store and keep track of all of their data sheets and information about each of the study trees at their school field site.  Next year's students will add their data sheets to the same binder in order to keep track of the tree over time, in one place.

Teacher Comments on Student Work/Poster Session:

  • It is great to see what other teachers are doing with their students to bring ecology into the classroom.
  • chance to see all the ways to use this project in student's learning.
  • I loved this! This also gave a time for more information conversation that was very helpful.
  • Seeing samples of work and getting ideas to improve direction-giving and organization
  • I love the book project! Student samples showed a pride and ownership of work



Survey Says....



  • The walk and having the chance to meet and talk with the staff and the teachers always extends my knowledge and renews my passion.
  • The entire day was fantastic. I loved getting ideas from other teachers. I am so impressed with the good work everyone is doing and I got lots of good ideas.
  • I liked the lightning round to see all the varied work people are doing .
  • Having the chance to meet and hear from other teachers who are inspired to take on such interesting work with students is helpful.
  • I learned more about the woolly bully and OCF and what other teachers are doing. I love the opportunity to network with other teachers and learn what they are doing across the state.
  • Every time I attend a workshop I feel a little more educated and comfortable with the content and ability to relay information to my students.
  • Re-invigorating, re-dedicating myself to helping my students make meaning of the work. 
  • It was wonderful to have people say that my work is valuable.
  •  I look forward to sharing paleo-ecology techniques and findings with my students.

  • It was great to hear about the research projects and new learnings at Harvard Forest. I am interested in potentially adding another HF LTER study to my curriculum next year. I am deciding between buds or our changing forests.
  • Learning about ancient pollen! This workshop always helps me remember why I am doing this work--to get kids out and learn to love what is around them.


Action!  What is actually being done at school/site level with students this year? 





Links to Explore More:



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Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Budburst Preview

Get a Jump start on Budburst by Bringing it INSIDE 


Project Ecologist John O'Keefe headed out to collect branches on 3-26-19
  Harvard Forest

 

Here is what the buds John collected on 3-26-19 were looking like on 4-1-19 after being inside by a south facing window a few days.  Notice that we included some Forsythia for fun and beauty along with native species that are included in John's  Phenology study.  

Hanover High School Teacher, Maryann Postans collected branches on 3-26-19 
Hanover, New Hampshire


Hanover HS Field Site, N.H.

 Side Buds starting to pop

Buds on lab bench waiting to open


St. Mary's School Teacher,  Mary Reed gathered these branches on 3-28-19
Westfield, MA. 


Getting Students to Take a Closer Look




I designed this science log to get students to slow down and really look closely at the buds as well as the bark.  I find this can be a good opportunity to also practice tree ID skills using shape of buds and the positioning of buds as well as color of the bark. Mostly this gives them an opportunity to track the expansion of buds and eventual opening into either leaves or flowers.  This prepares students to accurately complete Spring Phenology field sheets to track the beginning of the growing season.

See the lesson plan from the GLOBE program which is another National Science Foundation organization  supporting K-12 ecological study.  Link to the lesson at: 


GLOBE Budburst Preview Lesson Plan


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